News

O-BAHN CITY ACCESS PROJECT

Posted on March 2, 2015 by Outerspace Landscape Architects

The South Australian Government recently released plans for a $160 million O-Bahn extension, named the ‘O-Bahn City Access’ project. The proposal includes a 500 metre tunnel from Hackney Road under the parklands which surfaces on a new aligned Rundle Rd that will channel buses and cars with future provision for the east link tram directly into Grenfell St.

Outerspace were selected from other urban design firms to prepare design concepts for the new tunnel and bridge infrastructure along the proposed O-Bahn extension.

Our brief was to ‘soften’ the new road through the parklands and offer key urban design solutions for the new road infrastructure. Our design featured detailed master plans, concepts for both tunnel portal entry/exits, major pedestrian bridge designs, shared use path network improvements and an East Tce promenade.

As South Australians we are well aware the parklands surrounding the CBD of Adelaide are a vital community asset and should always be protected and enhanced whenever possible. The major catalyst for the eventual outcome of the design was the need to return as much road infrastructure back to parklands as conceivable, which will now enable larger scale events in Rundle Park as the space is no longer separated by a road.

Premier Jay Weatherald said “the closure of Rundle Rd and realigning it further to the south would return more land to the East Parklands and enhance the space. By closing Rundle Rd we are able to return more than 3000 square meters of land to Rundle Park.”

To watch a detailed animation click here and to read the Advertiser news article click here